Podium kiss was not meant to back gay rights, says Russian athlete

Podium kiss was not meant to back gay rights, says Russian athlete

Russian athlete Kseniya Ryzhova has denied that she had intended to show her disapproval of her country's "anti-gay propaganda" law when she kissed a teammate on the lips on the winners' podium at the Moscow World Athletics Championships.

She said she was insulted that the Russian 4x400m relay team's victory celebrations on Saturday were overshadowed by speculation in the Western media that the kiss with Yulia Gushchina had been intended as a protest.

"There was no hidden political motive," she said of the kiss, shown by television channels around the world.

"Instead of congratulating the athletes, they [the press] decided to insult not only Yulia but the whole [Russian] athletics federation. First of all, both Yulia and I are married," she said to applause from Russian journalists.

Image: Tatyana Firova and Kseniya Ryzhova of Russia kiss on the podium during the medal ceremony for the women's 4x400 metres relay at the World Athletics Championships in MoscowPhotographs: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Podium kiss was not meant to back gay rights, says Russian athlete

It is not uncommon for close women friends to kiss on the lips in Russia.

The law against spreading "gay propaganda" among minors is part of the conservative course Vladimir Putin has charted in his third term as president, following protests against his 13-year rule of Russia.

It has been widely condemned abroad, but opinion polls show a vast majority of Russians support it.

Despite calls from gay rights groups for a boycott of Russia's hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, some Russian athletes have defended the law.

Podium kiss was not meant to back gay rights, says Russian athlete

Gushchina and Ryzhova declined to comment on the law, saying they had been too busy preparing for the World Championships to think much about it.

"I have not heard or read (about it) because of the world championships," Gushchina told journalists.

Putin critics say the law is one of a string of repressive measures introduced by the former KGB spy in the first year of his third presidential term to clamp down on dissent.

The president denies cracking down on opponents, and has said Russia needs order and discipline. But the criticism has overshadowed preparations for the Sochi Olympics - a top priority for Putin, who wants it to show Russia as a modern state with top-notch infrastructure.

Image: Tatyana Firova and Kseniya Ryzhova of Russia kiss on the podium as team mates Yulia Gushchina and Antonina Krivoshapka look on Photographs: Grigory Dukor/Reuters